freeze dried romance
by believeindreams-believeinyou
Summary: life can change in an instant - you have to say what you think before someone else does.   Warning: a lot of random pairings, but mainly Jade/Beck.


_**A/N - it has now been established that painkillers and little sleep make Michelle write faster and better than normal. Screw living, I'm gonna go take painkillers and have little sleep and be like this all the time (I'm kidding, BTW). **_

_**That being said, excuse anything that doesn't make sense. **_

_**This is inspired by someone on my tumblr dash posting a video of Taylor Swift covering Train's **_**Drops of Jupiter_ song. I love the song, love Taylor Swift. _**

**_Somehow this was born in an hour. It's entirety. An hour. What the heck?_**

**_I'll take it. _**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious, Taylor Swift, Train or the song _Drops of Jupiter_. _**

**_Lyrics are in italic/bold, just to give reference to the song and show all you people who have never heard it just how beautiful it is._**

* * *

><p>She disappears, and it doesn't faze him. They've broken up. It's over.<br>She was too immature anyway - always thinking of how it would affect her, how she could do it better, how everyone did her wrong. She was selfish, and he was fed up.  
>He continues walking down the halls of Hollywood Arts like nothing has changed. But deep inside, he knows it all has. The pretty little girl hanging off his arm (a new one every week) is yet to truly satisfy him. He hides it anyway - even though Tori knows, she feigns ignorance and falls into the arms of Andre Harris, long-time crush.<p>

* * *

><p>Fresh out of a break-up with candy-coated lips #3 (he can never remember their names - just that they aren't Jade), she comes back.<br>Her hair has oranges and reds and yellows in it - colours she's never chosen to streak ever before.  
>Beck, who is learning about the Solar System (he's deeper than he looks), thinks she looks like she's jumped headfirst into the rings of Jupiter and hasn't washed her hair properly.<br>He notices her, but ignores it. Candy-face #5 is calling his name.

**_Now she's back in the atmosphere, drops of Jupiter in her hair…_**

* * *

><p>He's cast in a play alongside her (she's picked up right where she left off) and he's less than thrilled.<br>He confronts Sikowitz, and the coconut-obsessed hobo look alike lets him change characters so there won't be a kiss between the two (Sikowitz is observant - he knows about the breakup). Beck is surprised to see a line-up at re-auditions the next day, but puts it down to the simple fact that everyone wants to be the lead sometime. Spotlight is addictive.

* * *

><p>He catches her smiling and thinks it's a rare thing, until he notices she won't stop. She's smiling and laughing and joking and actually genuinely getting along with everyone as they rehearse scene number 2 for the 37th time that morning.<br>She playfully flirts with _Sinjin_and he almost thinks it's a different girl.

* * *

><p>She's leaning against his locker, waiting, at the end of the day.<br>Her make-up is light (almost non-existent), she wears faded blue skinny jeans and a white blouse, and music pumps through the earbuds connecting her ears to her PearPod.  
>He walks right up and she doesn't realize he's there at first, until she opens her eyes.<br>He hears Mozart flow from the tiny earbuds before she switches it off.  
>"Hey," she greets, smiling again.<br>"Uh... hi." he says awkwardly. "Do you think you could, uh.." he lifts up his books, "move?"  
>"Oh, sure. Sorry." she steps out of his way and waits for him to put his books away and grab his bag.<br>He turns around to face her.  
>"Why are you here?"<br>"I live here." is her simple answer, "I go to school here."  
>"I meant why are you waiting outside my locker?"<br>"Just wanted to talk. Catch up."  
>"Huh. You never wanted to talk when we were dating." he says, effectively snapping her good mood (if it were any normal day - but it's not), before turning around to leave.<br>"I deserved that." she mutters, and makes a grab for his hand. "Beck…"  
>He slips right out of her grip and leaves her in a trail of (metaphorical) dust.<p>

* * *

><p>He has to calm himself down. Candy-eyes #9 is frustrating - too clingy.<br>He escapes her grasp, rolls up his yoga mat and heads down to his local Dojo.  
>She's there - Jupiter hair ('Jade' doesn't describe her anymore - she's different) - and she's dancing rhythmically along with the rest of the class. He stands for a moment, remembering the time they danced at Hollywood Art's second Prom (not Prome - Tori dropped the 'e' after Jade punched her in the eye). She was so full of anger, even dancing was violent.<br>Now she was graceful, peaceful, and smiling again.

He glances at the door. "Tae Bo class in progress" the sign reads, almost taunting him.

He remembers the time she refused to do Tae Bo with him, even though it was just for something to do on a Friday night and they would be completely alone.  
>Instead of yoga, he heads down to the gym, bypasses the glove station and dislocates a knuckle punching the absolute life out of the heaviest punching bag.<br>His father tells him he's disappointed he held so much anger when he used to be so calm. Beck looks him right in the face and says with all honesty, "People change."

**_She checks out Mozart while she does Tae Bo, reminds me that there's room to grow._**

* * *

><p>He's sitting with Cat, Robbie and Tordre (they're never apart so why should their names be?) when Jade walks up in a whimsical manner, planting down on the metal bench and smiling at the group.<br>"Hi! Do you have it?" Cat asks, smiling.  
>Jade smiles back and hands her a folder.<br>"Here you go sweetie." she says, _butter-smooth_ and _sugar-sweet_.  
>Beck almost drops his burrito.<br>"Thanks, Jadey!" Cat exclaims, sliding down the bench and wrapping her arms around the girl Beck doesn't think he can recognize.  
>She doesn't pull away.<br>He doesn't know her at all.

**_Since her return from her stay on the moon, she listens like spring and she talks like June._**

* * *

><p>He's sitting on the roof of his RV when she turns up, all infuriating smiles and impossible dancer lithe.<br>She's beside him in seconds.  
>"Why did you go?" he asks - he can't help himself.<br>"You said we needed time to find ourselves. I went to find myself." she answers finally, swinging her legs against the heated metal.  
>"Where?"<br>"Outer Space." she answers, letting a giggle slip through.  
>He stares at her, and when he's sure he's not going to get an answer that isn't cryptic, he lies back down against the hole-filled rug he dragged up.<br>"Did you fall for a shooting star?" he asks, joking, but she looks at him with glassy eyes and he knows he's hit a soft point. He re-evaluates the double-meaning in his words (did you find someone better).  
>"I.. I didn't mean.."<br>"I didn't." she answers quickly, "If you're asking what I think you are."  
>He looks at her, and she lies down next to him.<br>"I didn't."  
>They don't say much else.<p>

**_Did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?_**

* * *

><p>He maps out another chart - the changes of Jadelyn West (no, really. She goes by<em> Jadelyn<em> now) and tries to figure it out.  
>She's done more than a 180, but less than a 360.<br>Maybe she really had travelled to outer space and found the person she'd been suppressing all these years.

* * *

><p>He can't bring himself to initiate the conversation anymore, even though she sits at his lunch table and is in all his classes again.<br>He's afraid she'll use her newfound powers to see right through his facade and recognize that he's nothing but a boy too afraid to fly in case he crashes.  
>He's afraid she'll reject his claims of love and leave him broken again. So he just stays silent.<br>She makes him doubt himself and realize that change is possible for everyone who wants it - but he's afraid to want it.

**_Now that she's back in the atmosphere, I'm afraid that she might think of me as… Plain old Jane told a story 'bout a man who was too afraid to fly so he never did land._**

* * *

><p>Jadelyn and Sinjin become a thing before he even has a chance to blink.<br>Not only has she changed, but he has too. He starts combing his hair and wearing pants that aren't as tight. He starts talking about normal things.  
>She starts glowing when he's around.<br>Beck dislocates another knuckle (he's missed his chance).

**_Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star? One without a permanent scar?_**

* * *

><p>Sinjin's house is down the road from his, so he sees her a lot.<br>She's either eager to get there or smiling from having already been, but she always stops to talk to him regardless.  
>It gives him hope until the day she admits something she hasn't ever dared to admit.<br>"I think I love him."  
>He doesn't know what to do.<br>He wants to tell her everything - he's never stopped loving her, she can't be with Sinjin, but he keeps quiet.  
>"I... I shouldn't be telling you this, but I... I've never told anyone that I love them before, and I know you have..."<br>"You want advice?" he asks, feeling his chest constrict.  
>She nods.<br>"Don't tell him at all." he says finally, sliding right off the roof of the RV, bypassing all the safety features he's put up (planks of wood to act as steps, a bin pushed right up to metal), "Love only ends up hurting you."

* * *

><p>She must've figured it out herself, because soon they're saying it every five minutes.<br>It makes Beck physically ill.  
>But that's okay, because shiny-hair #2 is good at making chicken soup.<p>

* * *

><p>Time passes. He throws a wedding invitation in the trash without even glancing at the inside of it - it's either Tori &amp; Andre's or Jadelyn &amp; Sinjin's and neither is a wedding he wishes to attend.<br>He goes to see her in a play (on _Broadway_) and she waves at him when they come onstage to bow.  
>Or at least, he thinks she does until he spots Sinjin sitting closer and she blows a kiss.<br>He goes around to the stage door (not really sure of why) and she pulls him to the front of the line to give him a hug.  
>"You made it!" she gasps.<br>"I told you I would."  
>"You said that about the last 7, honey."<br>"I gave you excuses for each of those."  
>She fiddles with the shiny ring on her hand for a moment. He looks down at it and she notices.<br>"It wasn't the same without you." she admits in a small voice.  
>"I... I tried to come. I really did."<br>"But you couldn't. I get it."  
>They're silent for a moment.<br>"Hey, sign my playbook." he says suddenly, holding it up.  
>She scribbles her name on it, and he tries desperately not to notice her last name isn't "West" anymore.<br>Someone calls her name and she glows instantly - he knows who it is.  
>The tall past-freak is let past the guards and she's in his arms within seconds, the crown of her head being kissed.<br>"You were awesome, baby." he mutters.  
>She giggles.<br>"You said that last night!"  
>"You were better than last night. You stole the show!"<br>She slaps him playfully and looks up to find Beck, but he's already gone.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Did you finally get a chance to dance along the light of day, and head back to the Milky Way?<em>**

* * *

><p>He thinks about her every day (fake-features #11 isn't the brightest tool in the shed, so she doesn't realize).<br>He fizzles. Like a used-up star, he just fades away. Where people used to send him letters of adoration and requests for prom dates and signatures, now sit a pile of bills he's yet to pay.  
>He doesn't have the money, but that's okay, because fake-features #11's daddy will pay for everything he needs.<br>He marries her out of convenience and ends up raising her kids when she commits suicide (_she was a size 5! Gasp! So out of style!_). He barely lives - just survives. He keeps a box of newspaper clippings all about her and it's thrown out the day he dies by one of his children who doesn't even bother to look at the contents.

* * *

><p>She thinks about him in passing, sends him letters that he never responds to.<br>She gives up and gets on with her life.  
>She shines - like the sun. She's the name on everyone's lips and the poster on everyone's wall and she couldn't be happier.<br>They're a famous duo - she stars in the plays, he lights her up so the crowd can see her beautiful face.  
>18 plays and 3 movies later, she falls pregnant with her first child.<br>Her doorstep is full of congratulations and presents and it's the most wonderful time.  
>She has 2 more and that's when things are really complete.<br>They settle down until the kids are old enough to want to explore the world, and then they're up and off and anywhere they want to be at anytime.  
>She loves acting so she does a few more plays but the kids start to miss her being around, so she quits because she'll always love them more.<br>She uses her voice to speak out for a few different causes - puts a dint in poverty, helps a few hundred species of animals on the brink of extinction, and builds a few schools in third-world countries.  
>She lives to see her grandchildren, a few great-grandchildren, and she is happy.<br>They die together at home - it's peaceful, easy, and they've made enough of a difference to be able to let go.  
>They remember their lives as they're slipping, and she touches on her years with Beck.<br>The thought before her very last is him.

* * *

><p><span>Don't ever be too afraid to say what you want, because before you know it, it'll be gone.<span>

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN- So what did you think? Leave a review and tell me. I will literally dance around wherever I am when I get it. (I wish I was kidding)_**

**_**_P.S - I am aware there is another recent fanfiction to Train's Drops of Jupiter, and this by no means is meant to take away from the glory of/copy anything that writer has chosen to write. I actually didn't read their story until after I wrote this one. Any similarities are accidental, and if anyone is offended by this and wants me to take it off, I will. (Side note: by all means read them both -I really like the other one-, but don't compare the stories. Okay? Your opinion on _this_ story is what I'm looking for, not anything else. I don't want anyone to be hurt.)_**_**

**_Have a happy and safe Halloween. (}:_**


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